4104-4556 Just purchased from a 1 owner conversion in Michigan, looking to relocate it to El Paso within the next couple months. Can't wait to get it on the road!

G -

PD4104-4556 was delivered new as fleet number C-2378 in March of 1960 to Central-Southwestern Greyhound Lines, HQ'd in Minneapolis, MN. PO probably purchased from 'Hound in the fall of 1970 or so after the summer peak season, as GL normally keeps equipment 10 years before selling them off.

As a side note, if you want to experience overheating that 6-71 while living in the Southwest, then leave that mudflap hanging off the rear bumper.

If you don't want to experience overheating, then pull it off and rehang it on the bulkhead directly behind the rear axle. That's where they were installed as OEM - it helps to create a low-pressure area under the engine to help draw more air thru the radiator and engine compartment. This is one item that you shouldn't second-guess the factory about.

For some folk, shifting the manual four-speed is a piece of cake, for others, their worst nightmare. It's a "crash box," so you have to double-clutch for best results. This article may be of help:

(If you can't read it, send me a PM w/ your email address and I'll send you a copy - since I wrote it!)

Finally, help us help you by taking a couple minutes to edit your Forum Profile to add a signature line similar to mine below. Simply click on the Profile tab above, from the LH menu on the next screen, click on "Forum Profile Info" and follow the prompts. By doing so we can better direct you to parts and service sources, not to mention the added benefit of possibly finding another busnut nearby!

We are visiting my Wife's moms cousin this night. Her husband (Jimmy Ace Asip) is the lead singer for a band called "Pieces of Eight". They are a southern beach style "shag" type band from the late 50s, early 60's (and they still play 5 or 6 dates a year).

When we pulled up to their house in our bus he was excited to see it and told me all kinds of stories of the bus they drove around back in the 50s and 60s when they would tour. He said that they mostly used the bus to drive around and would stay in hotels. There were 12 original grayhound seats in the front, 8 bunks in the middle and a card table and u-shaped couch in the back. Not much of a conversion but it was mostly for travel and all the band members would take shifts driving to get from one place to another.

The picture came out of a book called "The Heeey Baby Beach Days of Music" by Greg Haynes. There is also a picture of the bus on their website http://www.thepiecesofeight.com/ on the history tab. Unfortunately the website is all flash so the picture is not saveable sans a screen shot.

I'm trying to get him to dig up more pics of the bus. It was a grayhound bus before they bought it. The 4 numbers up on the top are 5638. I'm sure this is a Greyhound bus number that was never removed and is probably not the serial number. He said about a year or two ago someone saw it on the side of the road (probably a scrap yard) recognized the band and bus from back in the day and called him and told him that they saw the bus. He doesn't know anything except that it was in the Charlotte area and still had the same paint as in this picture.

If I find out more Ill let you know. Maybe RJ can find out something about it from the Greyhound repository.

Maybe RJ can find out something about it from the Greyhound repository.

Well, yes & no. . .

I don't show 5638 as a number assigned to a 4104 by one of the Greyhound ("e" not "a") divisions when new. The closest I come is 5445 belonging to Pennsylvania GL, then 5700 @ Northland GL.

It isn't unusual to GL to reassign coach numbers when the fleet is repositioned. All you have to do is look at the Scenics - some had 4/5 different fleet numbers during their Hound career. Add to that mix the consolidation of various divisions over the years, and tracking becomes much more of a challenge.

However, it definitely is an ex-GL car. Give-aways are the low-mount driver's mirror, the fleet number placement, the running dog breastplate, and the large flat panel between the headlights for multiple state license plates.

Now if Mr Asip or one of the other band members can come up with an old vehicle registration or similar with the VIN, then I can come up with which GL division originally purchased the coach from GM.

1955 PD 4104-1522 has moved to her new home from Lincoln, Montana where she was purchased to Saratoga Springs, NY.

This coach has an interesting history. It was originally purchased in May of 1955 as fleet number A-5509 by American Buslines, HQ'd in Lincoln, NE. American was the third (and smallest) of the transcontinental bus companies back then, behind Hound and Trailways. Of course, they're just a memory now. . .